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Canada (World War 2)
The military history of Canada during the Second World War begins with the German invasion of Poland on 1 September 1939. While the Canadian Armed Forces were eventually active in nearly every theater of war, most combat was centered in Italy, Northwestern Europe, and the North Atlantic. Over the course of the war, more than 1.1 million Canadians served in the Canadian Army, Royal Canadian Navy, Royal Canadian Air Force, and in forces across the Commonwealth. More than 44,000 lost their lives and 54,000 were wounded. The financial cost was $21.8 billion between 1939 and 1950. By the end of the war Canada had the world's fourth largest air force, and fifth largest navy. The Canadian Merchant Navy completed over 25,000 voyages across the Atlantic, 130,000 Allied pilots were trained in Canada in the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan. On D-Day, 6 June 1944 the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division landed on "Juno" beach in Normandy, in conjunction with allied forces. The Second World War had significant cultural, political and economic effects on Canada, including the conscription crisis in 1944 which affected unity between francophones and anglophones. The war effort strengthened the Canadian economy and furthered Canada's global position. Declaration of war At the outbreak of the First World War, Canada was a quasi-independent Dominion of the British Empire and automatically went to war alongside the United Kingdom, albeit with full autonomy to decide the form and extent of its involvement. However, the 1931 Statute of Westminster transformed Canada into a fully sovereign state, theoretically co-equal with Britain and the other Dominions of the British Commonwealth. Despite this, some commentators at the time suggested that Canada was still bound by Britain's declaration of war because it had been made in the name of their common monarch, but the Canadian prime minister William Lyon Mackenzie King repeatedly declared that "Parliament will decide". As late as 1936 King had told Parliament "Our country is being drawn into international situations to a degree that I myself think is alarming." Both the government and the public remained reluctant to participate in a European war, in part because of the memories of the Conscription Crisis of 1917 that divided French and English Canada. Both King and opposition leader Robert James Manion stated their opposition to conscripting troops for overseas service in March 1939. Nonetheless, King had not changed his view of 1923 that Canada would participate in a war by the Empire whether or not the United States did. By August 1939 his cabinet, including French Canadians, was united for war in a way that it probably would not have been during the Munich Crisis, although both cabinet members and the country based their support in part on expecting that Canada's participation would be "limited". It had been clear that Canada would elect to participate in the war before the invasion of Poland on 1 September 1939. Four days after the United Kingdom declared war on 3 September 1939, Parliament was called in special session and both King and Manion stated their support for Canada following Britain, but did not declare war immediately, partly to show that Canada was joining out of her own initiative and was not obligated to go to war. Unlike 1914 when war came as a surprise, the government had prepared various measures for price controls, rationing, and censorship, and the War Measures Act of 1914 was re-invoked. After two days of debate, the House of Commons approved an Address in Reply to the Speech from the Throne on 9 September 1939 giving authority to declare war to King's government. A small group of Quebec legislators attempted to amend the bill, and CCF party leader J. S. Woodsworth stated that some of his party opposed it. Woodsworth was the only Member of Parliament to vote against the bill and it thus passed by near-acclamation. The Senate also passed the bill that day. The Cabinet drafted a proclamation of war that night, which Governor-General Lord Tweedsmuir signed on 10 September. King George VI approved Canada's declaration of war with Germany on Sept. 10. Canada later also declared war on Italy (June 11, 1940), Japan (December 7, 1941), and other Axis powers, enshrining the principle that the Statute of Westminster conferred these sovereign powers to Canada. Outbreak of war Though Canada was the oldest Dominion in the British Commonwealth, it was, for the most part, reluctant to enter the war. Canada, with a population somewhere between 11 and 12 million, eventually raised very substantial armed forces. Around 10% of the entire population of Canada joined the army, with only a small portion conscripted. After the long struggle of the Great Depression of the 1930s, the challenges of the Second World War accelerated Canada's ongoing transformation into a modern urban and industrialized nation. Canada informally followed the British Ten Year Rule that reduced defense spending even after Britain abandoned it in 1932. Having suffered from nearly 20 years of neglect, Canada's armed forces were small, poorly equipped, and for the most part unprepared for war in 1939. King's government began increasing spending in 1936, but the increase was unpopular. The government had to describe it as primarily for defending Canada, with an overseas war "a secondary responsibility of this country, though possibly one requiring much greater ultimate effort." The Munich Crisis of 1938 caused annual spending to almost double. Nonetheless, in March 1939 the Permanent Active Militia (or Permanent Force (PF), Canada's full-time army) had only 4,169 officers and men while the Non-Permanent Active Militia (Canada's reserve force) numbered 51,418 at the end of 1938, mostly armed with weapons from 1918. In March 1939 the Royal Canadian Navy had 309 officers and 2967 naval ratings, and the Royal Canadian Air Force had 360 officers and 2797 airmen. Under Secretary of State for External Affairs Oscar D. Skelton stated the government's war policy. Among its highlights: * Consult with Britain and France, and "equally important, discreet consultation with Washington". * Prioritize Canadian defense, especially the Pacific coast. * Possibly aid Newfoundland and the West Indies. * The RCAF should be the first to serve overseas. * Canada can "most effectively" serve its allies by providing munitions, raw materials, and food.12:9 King's cabinet approved this policy on 24 August 1939, and in September disapproved of the proposal by the Chiefs of Staff to create two army divisions for overseas service, in part due to cost. His "moderate" war strategy soon demonstrated its national and bilingual support in two elections. When Premier of Quebec Maurice Duplessis called an election on an anti-war platform, Adélard Godbout's Liberals won a majority on 26 October 1939. When the Legislative Assembly of Ontario passed a resolution criticizing the government for not fighting the war "in the vigorous manner the people of Canada desire to see", King dissolved the federal parliament and, in the resulting election on 26 March 1940, his Liberals won the largest majority in history. At the outbreak of war, Canada's commitment to the war in Europe was limited by government to one division, and one division in reserve for home defence. Nevertheless, the eventual size of the Canadian armed forces greatly exceeded those envisioned in the pre-war period's so-called mobilization "schemes". Over the course of the war, the army enlisted 730,000; the air force 260,000; and the navy 115,000 personnel. In addition, thousands of Canadians served in the Royal Air Force. Approximately half of Canada's army and three-quarters of its air-force personnel never left the country, compared to the overseas deployment of approximately three-quarters of the forces of Australia, New Zealand, and the United States. By war's end, however, 1.1 million men and women had served in uniform for Canada. The Navy grew from only a few ships in 1939 to over 400 ships, including three aircraft carriers and two cruisers. This maritime effort helped keep the shipping lanes open across the Atlantic throughout the war. In part, this reflected Mackenzie King's policy of "limited liability" and the labour requirements of Canada's industrial war effort. But it also reflected the objective circumstances of the war. With France defeated and occupied, there was no Second World War equivalent of the Great War's Western Front until the invasion of Normandy in June 1944. Moreover, the manpower requirements of the North Africa and Mediterranean theatres were comparatively small and readily met by British and other British Empire/Commonwealth forces. Manufacturing, production and mining Canada's wartime motor vehicle production constituted 20% of the combined total production of Canada, the US, and the UK. The nation had become one of the world's leading automobile manufacturers in the 1920s, owing to the presence of branch-plants of American automakers in Ontario. In 1938, Canada's automotive industry ranked fourth in the world in the output of passenger car and trucks, even though a large part of its productive capacity remained idle because of the Depression. During the war, this industry was put to good use, building all manner of war material, and most particularly wheeled vehicles, of which Canada became the second largest (next to the United States) producer during the war. Canada's output of about 800,000 trucks and wheeled vehicles, for instance, exceeded the combined total truck production of Germany, Italy, and Japan. Rivals Ford and General Motors of Canada pooled their engineering design teams to produce a standardized vehicle series, amenable to mass production: the Canadian Military Pattern (CMP) truck, which served throughout the British Commonwealth. With a production of some 410,000 units, the CMP trucks accounted for the majority of Canada's total truck output; and approximately half of the British Army's transport requirements were supplied by Canadian manufacturers. The British official History of the Second World Warargues that the production of soft-skinned trucks, including the CMP truck class, was Canada's most important contribution to Allied victory. Canada also produced its own medium tank, the Ram. Though it was unsuitable for combat employment, many were used for training, and the 1st Canadian Armoured Carrier Regiment used modified Rams as armoured personnel carriers in North-West Europe. In addition 1,390 Canadian-built Valentine tanks were shipped to the Soviet Union. Approximately 14,000 aircraft, including Lancaster and Mosquito bombers, were built in Canada. In addition, by the end of 1944, Canadian shipyards had launched naval ships, such as destroyers, frigates, corvettes, and some 345 merchant vessels. But perhaps no Canadian contribution to the Allied war effort was so vital as that made by the metals industries: half of Allied aluminum and ninety percent of Allied nickel was supplied by Canadian sources during the war. The Canadian company Eldorado Gold Mines Ltd., which produced uranium as a byproduct of gold and radium production using ore from its mine at Port Radium in the Northwest Territories, was recruited by the Canadian government into involvement in the Manhattan Project. In particular, Eldorado's refinery at Port Hope processed ore from both Port Radium and the Belgian Congo to produce much of the uranium used in the Little Boy bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima. Mobilization and deployment While the response to war was initially intended to be limited, resources were mobilized quickly. The Convoy HX-1 departed Halifax just six days after the nation declared war, escorted by HMCS St. Laurent and HMCS Saguenay. The 1st Canadian Infantry Division arrived in Britain on 1 January 1940. By 13 June 1940, the 1st Battalion of The Hastings and Prince Edward Regiment was deployed to France in an attempt to secure the southern flank of the British Expeditionary Force in Belgium. By the time the battalion arrived, the British and allies were cut off at Dunkirk, Paris had fallen, and after penetrating 200 km inland, the battalion returned to Brest and then to Britain. Apart from the Dieppe Raid in August 1942, the frustrated Canadian Army fought no significant engagement in the European theatre of operations until the invasion of Sicily in the summer of 1943. With the Sicily Campaign, the Canadians had the opportunity to enter combat and later were among the first to enter Rome. Canada was the only country of the Americas to be actively involved in the war prior to the Attack on Pearl Harbor. Canadian support for the war was mobilized through a propaganda campaign, including If Day, a staged 'Nazi' invasion of Winnipeg which generated more than $3 million in war bonds. Veterans Guard of Canada As with the Home Guard, the Veterans Guard of Canada was initially formed in the early days of the Second World War as a defence force in case of an attack on Canadian soil. Composed largely of First World War veterans it included, at its peak, 37 Active and Reserve companies with 451 officers and 9,806 other ranks. Over 17,000 veterans served in the force over the course of the war. Active companies served full-time in Canada as well as overseas, including a General Duty Company attached to Canadian Military Headquarters in London, England, No. 33 Coy. in the Bahamas, No. 34 Coy. in British Guiana and Newfoundland, and a smaller group dispatched to India. The Veterans Guard were involved in a three-day prisoner of war uprising in 1942, known as the Battle of Bowmanville. Along with its home defence role, the Veterans Guard assumed responsibility for guarding internment camps from the Canadian Provost Corps, which helped release younger Canadians for service overseas. The Guards were disbanded in 1947. Inventory Infantry * Riflemen * Fusilier * Paratrooper * SMG soldier * Sniper * Flamethrower * MG Team * Mortar Team * Tank Crew * Pilot * Medic * Engineer * Officer Canadian Rifleman.jpg|Rifleman Canadian Sniper ww2.jpg|Sniper Vehicles * Universal Carrier * Fox Armored Car * T17 Armored Car * Otter Light Reconnaissance Car * M3 Scout Car * Loyd Carrier * Kangaroo armored personnel carrier * Ram tank * M4 Sherman Medium Tank * Grizzly I cruiser * Sherman Firefly * Skink Anti-Aircraft Tank * M10 Achilles self-propelled anti-tank gun * Sexton Self-propelled artillery AEC Matador.JPG|AEC Matador Universal Carrier.JPG|Universal Carrier Loyd Carrier.jpg|Loyd Carrier Daimler Dingo.jpg|Daimler Dingo Fox Armored Car.JPG|Fox Armored Car Humber Armoured Car.jpg|Humber Armored Car Daimler Armored Car.jpg|Daimler Mk. I Armored Car T17 Staghound.jpg|T17 Armored Car Morris Light Reconnaissance Car.jpg|Morris Light Reconnaissance Car Otter Light Reconnaissance Car.JPG|Otter Light Reconnaissance Car C15TA Armoured Truck.jpg|C15TA Armored Truck M3 Half-track.JPG|M3 Scout Car M5 Half-track.jpg|M5 Half-Track Kangaroo armored personnel carrier.jpg|Kangaroo armored personnel carrier Light Tank Mk VI.jpg|Light Tank Mk VI M3 Stuart.jpg|Stuart Tank Valentine tank.jpg|Valentine tank Churchill canada.jpg|Churchill tank Mk 1 Matilda II.jpg|Matilda II M3 Lee.jpg|M3 Lee Centaur IV.jpg|Centaur IV Ram tank.JPG|Ram Tank M4 Sherman Medium Tank.jpg|M4 Sherman DD Sherman tank.jpg|Duplex Drive Sherman tank M4A1_Grizzly_Sherman_CFB_Borden.jpg|Grizzly I Cruiser British Sherman Firefly Namur.jpg|Sherman Firefly Skink anti-aircraft tank.png|Skink anti-aircraft tank Crusader III, AA Mk I.jpg|Crusader III, AA Mk I Crusader AA Mk II.JPG|Crusader AA Mk II M10 tank destroyer.JPG|M10 Tank Destroyer M10 Achilles self-propelled anti-tank gun.JPG|M10 Achilles self-propelled anti-tank gun Archer self propelled anti-tank gun.jpg|Archer self propelled anti-tank gun M7 Priest.jpg|M7 Priest Sexton Self-propelled artillery.JPG|Sexton Self-propelled artillery Air Craft * Naval Vessels Category:Real Life Armies Category:World War 2 Category:Factions